Covering the bases

August 21, 2012

LEADING OFF: RHP Jameson Taillon will make his Curve debut tonight at Trenton. The 20-year-old was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2010 draft and received a $6.5 million signing bonus. Taillon went 6-8 with a 3.82 ERA in 23 starts for high-A Bradenton. His first appearance at Peoples Natural Gas Field will be Sunday against Richmond.

SAFE AT FIRST: LHP Justin Wilson and RHP Kyle McPherson became the 97th and 98th former Curve players to reach the major leagues when they were called up to the Pirates on Monday. McPherson was with the Curve only three weeks ago before getting called up to Triple-A. He was just 3-5 with a 4.07 ERA in nine starts for Altoona, but he had a 1.59 ERA in two starts (11 1/3 innings) for Indianapolis.

STEALING SECOND: Wilson was MVP of the 2010 Eastern League playoffs as he helped the Curve win the league title. He was 11-8 with a 3.09 ERA for Altoona that season and went 9-6 with a 3.84 ERA for Indy this year. He threw an eight-inning individual no-hitter 12 days ago and the first seven innings of a combined nine-inning no-hitter April 29.

ROUNDING THIRD: LHP Kris Johnson was promoted from the Curve to Indy on Monday. RHP Erik Turgeon was brought up from high-A Bradenton to take his roster spot.

HEADING HOME: The only losing streak in Curve history that was more baffling than the 13-game road skid came in 2000, when the club lost a franchise-record 11 straight games overall from April 15-26. That team had several Double-A stars, including eventual EL MVP Adam Hyzdu (.290, 31 HRs, 106 RBIs), LHP Sam McConnell (9-2, 1.61 ERA) and OFs Rob Mackowiak (.297, 13 HRs, 87 RBIs) and Alex Hernandez (.337).